


Brotherly Hate

by DinerGuy



Category: Psych
Genre: Case, Gen, Humor, Mystery, Sequel, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-16
Updated: 2010-11-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 04:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinerGuy/pseuds/DinerGuy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shawn wasn't one to refuse a case, especially if solving it would prove Lassiter wrong. Can our favorite fake psychic clear a suspected murderer's name? And can Gus keep his friend out of trouble in the meantime?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel of sorts to "This Wasn't Exactly Included In My Trip Itinerary!" Reading it is not vital to this story, but it's where I introduced Velma and Joe. There may also be references to that first fic in this one, so I do recommend reading it first. ;)
> 
> Disclaimer: Psych and all of its characters belong to the writers and network. I just take them out to play sometimes. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made. However, I did create Velma and Joe, as well as the other original characters. Those I can claim.
> 
> Thank you to my RL sister for listening to me bemoan my outlining troubles, poking holes in my first few plotlines, and offering suggestions to close up said holes. Also, thank you to frankie_mcstein for reading over my outline and betaing this chapter.

"Shawn, don't you dare!"

"Oh come on, Gus," Shawn pouted. He held the rubber pineapple up to his face, mimicking the fake fruit's crooked smile. "You can't say no to this level of awesome."

Gus regarded him with a raised eyebrow then shook his head and turned his attention back to the open laptop on his desk. "No."

"Fine." Shawn placed the toy on his desk then began rooting around in one of the drawers. "Gus, have you seen my super glue?"

Gus was saved from replying by a light knock on the door. Both men looked up towards the front room, their eyes widening slightly in surprise recognition.

The redheaded woman standing in the doorway offered them a smile. "Shawn Spencer?"

"Velma!" Shawn greeted, giving her a grin as he temporarily abandoned his search. "How have you been?" His eyes dropped to her swollen stomach before returning to her face. "Married life treating you well, I see. How's Newport lately?"

"Just fine. The town's been a lot quieter since you passed through." She paused, then took a breath and began. "I need your help."

"My help?" Shawn motioned to the chair by the window. "Sit down and tell me about it."

Velma lowered herself to the seat and folded her hands in her lap, toying with the rings on her left hand as Shawn leaned against his desk. "Okay," she said, looking from Shawn to Gus and back again. "I know this is kinda weird, me showin' up here and all, but I need your help. Or, actually, Joe needs your help."

It took Shawn a moment, but he nodded. "Your husband's in trouble."

"Mhmm. See, he was here in Santa Barbara, visiting his brother, Jake."

"You have family here?" Gus asked.

Nodding, Velma continued, "Well, Joe does. His brother moved here years back, and Joe finally got around to taking time off to come spend some time with Jake. They were so close, talkin' on video chat every week or more and the phone even more often."

Raising an eyebrow, Shawn interrupted. "You said 'were'. What happened?"

"Well ..." Velma trailed off, dropping her eyes to her hands for a moment before returning her gaze to Shawn. "See, that's why we need you. Jake got killed, and the police arrested Joe for it."

"He killed his brother?" Gus couldn't help asking.

"No!" Velma's voice was indignant. "That's why we need you," she repeated. "The police think he did it, but Joe would never hurt anyone!"

"You want me to find out who did it and get your husband released?" Shawn asked, glaring at Gus. If he had been standing close enough, Shawn would have kicked him.

"Yes," Velma replied, nodding emphatically. "You're a psychic; if anyone can figure out who really did it, it's you. The police won't listen to me. That Detective Lassiter fella said the evidence pointed to Joe, and he deserved to be locked up."

"Yeah, I can see Lassie saying that," Shawn muttered. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; we'll get to the bottom of this case."

"Oh thank you!" Velma looked relieved. "I just know you can do it; thank you so much." She stood up from her seat. "Do you need anything from me?"

"Just the number where we can contact you," Gus told her.

"Oh, right." Velma nodded to herself. "I'm at the Super 8 motel over near ... Ya know, I'll just give you my number." She reached for her purse and fished a small notepad from it. Scribbling on the top sheet, she ripped it out and handed it to Gus.

"Thanks." Gus accepted the small piece of paper. "We'll let you know what we find."

"Great. Thank you," Velma repeated. She headed for the door, turning back once to give them another grateful smile before leaving.

After she had gone, Shawn took a seat in his desk chair, all thoughts of rubber pineapples and super glue temporarily gone from his mind. He swiveled in his chair to face Gus. "So, buddy, what do you think?"

"I think we need more information before we start drawing conclusions," Gus told him.

"Right." Shawn nodded. "Well, I guess there's only one thing to do then. To the Blueberry!" He jumped from his seat and hurried out the door, leaving his chair spinning behind him.

Gus rolled his eyes and followed him to the parking lot.

One hour and a snack stop later, they were pulling up to the police station. Shawn regarded the building carefully as he climbed out of the car.

"Do you think old Lassieface will be willing to share his case?" he asked, sucking on the straw in his smoothie cup.

"I think it's more a matter of if your dad will hire us on the case," Gus reminded him. "If not, we won't have access to the police files."

"Gus, don't be a balloon without helium," Shawn said. "I can always find a way to divine the information."

Gus snorted at that. "Yeah. Because we all know you're a real psychic detective."

"Hey!" Shawn protested, following his friend up the front steps. He tossed his cup into the trash can as they entered the station. Spotting the blond junior detective, Shawn strode over to her desk. "Jules!"

"Shawn, Gus," she greeted. "Is there something I can do for you? I don't remember us calling you in."

"Well, see, Gus here thought that since it was apparently a slow crime day, you might want some company." Shawn put his hands on the desktop and leaned forward, ignoring Gus' protesting expression. "And I'm sensing you have a case that we can help you solve."

"Really?" Juliet crossed her arms and smiled slightly. "And which would that be?"

"The Jake Williams case," Shawn answered matter-of-factly. "I'm getting ..." He trailed off and put his hands to his head, closing his eyes for a moment before popping them open and nodding. "Yes. You arrested the brother, Joe, but I'm getting serious vibes that this case is deeper than you think."

"Shawn, the Williams case was one of the easiest cases to come through here in months. Officers responded to a call from the neighbor to find Joe Williams with blood on his clothes and the murder weapon in his hand."

"Whoa!" Shawn yelped, covering his eyes and wincing. "I'm sensing that there may have been a misunderstanding. Joe found his brother like that and tried to save him."

"Joe's alibi was that he had gone to the grocery store, but that he had forgotten the list and didn't want to call and wake his brother, who was off of work and still asleep," Juliet continued.

"Did you find a list?" Gus asked. He glared at Shawn, trying to get him to quit declaring Joe was innocent until they discovered the truth.

"There was a shopping list on the counter, but it was in Jake's writing," Juliet answered. "We have no evidence that Joe actually forgot it. He could have made up the story when he was caught."

"Spencer!" A gruff voice broke into their conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too, Lassie. I'm so happy you're starting to show your feelings now." Shawn looked the taller man up and down. "I think that new therapist is starting to work wonders."

"I don't have a therapist." Head detective Carlton Lassiter shook his head in annoyance. "Don't you two have anything better to do than stick your noses into cases we don't need you to solve?"

"Somebody's got to do the crime fighting," Shawn told him. "Now about that Williams case?" he asked, turning back to Juliet.

"I'm sorry, Shawn, but we have that one pretty well wrapped up." Juliet shrugged in apology.

"The Williams case?" Lassiter asked. "That one was so open and shut that a ten year old could have solved it."

Shawn raised a hand. "One, who is this ten year old you have solving crimes? And will he encroach upon my being paid to solve your cases?"

At the glare from Lassiter, he continued, "Not that you need help, exactly. But you know, I'm still feeling that you arrested the wrong guy in this case."

"If I reopened a case just because someone told me I arrested the wrong man, every case in the department's history would be open right now," Lassiter snapped. "If you want in on the Williams case, talk to your father. Otherwise, leave us alone and let us do our jobs."

Shawn turned pleading eyes to Juliet, but she just smiled apologetically. "He's right, Shawn."

"Fine," Shawn humphed. He dragged Gus a few steps away, then whispered, "Dude, go ask my dad for the case."

"Me?" Gus raised an eyebrow. "You're the one convinced we should investigate this. I, for one, am inclined to believe Juliet and Lassiter."

"Gus," Shawn said, looking his friend in the eyes, "you know as well as I do that cases aren't always what they seem. If nothing else, we should look into it for Velma's sake."

"Quit trying to guilt-trip me, Shawn," Gus reprimanded. "If you want the case, you ask your dad."


	2. Chapter 2

"That went well," Shawn remarked, heading down the steps towards the parking lot.

"Well?" Gus repeated. "Shawn, your dad told you the case was solved and to forget about it." They had reached the sidewalk and made their way to the Blueberry. "You are going to leave it alone, right?" he continued as he pressed a button on his key chain and unlocked the doors.

"Please, Gus, since when have I listened to my dad?"

"I would hope now." Gus climbed into the driver's seat.

"Do you really want to be the one to tell Velma we gave up on her husband without trying?" Shawn asked, giving Gus a stern glare as he buckled his seat belt.

Gus rolled his eyes. "It's not like you didn't try."

"All I did was ask for the case. I haven't even looked into it yet."

"Lassiter and your dad both said no," Gus pointed out, turning the key to start the engine.

"They just said no to hiring us. No one said we can't look into it on our own time."

Gus gave him a sideways glance as he pulled out of the lot. "Unless you've forgotten, we need to make money to keep Psych going. It doesn't run on empty bank accounts."

"Of course not," Shawn snorted. "That's why you still have your other job. Come on, Gus, please?" He stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

"Shawn, you look ridiculous." Gus hesitated a moment, thinking it over. "Fine. If you can get us into the crime scene, we can at least go look around."

Shawn grinned. "I have a feeling that will be easy."

* * *

They pulled into the parking lot of Jake Williams' apartment building about fifteen minutes later. Shawn leaped out as soon as Gus had put the car in park and hurried up the stairs to the third story apartment where Jake had lived until the day before.

There were no police cars in the lot, and Shawn breathed a sigh of relief. While he had no doubt his charming good looks could get him into the scene, it was easier to just duck under the yellow tape and take a look around.

The front room was a basic living area with a few chairs and a coffee table facing the television set. Off to the side, a small table and four chairs made up an eating area. A fold-away cot was leaning against the wall behind the sofa.

The walls were a basic beige, and the seating arrangement appeared to have been scavenged from garage sales and thrift stores. Neither of the chairs matched each other or the sofa, and the coffee table, entertainment center, and small desk in the corner were varying shades of wood.

Several framed pictures hung on the walls, displaying various memories. Shawn picked out Joe in two of them, including one of Joe and Velma's wedding.

Gus joined him a moment later. "Shawn, how did you get in here?"

"The door was open," Shawn replied, finishing his survey of the front room.

"I don't think it's normal procedure for the police to leave a crime scene unlocked," Gus rebutted, crossing his arms.

"I've heard it both ways," Shawn replied. He pointed to a dark stain in the carpet. "This must be where Jake was killed."

The pool of blood had dried, and Gus was able to look at it without feeling too much nausea. He nodded as Shawn stepped over the stain and continued towards the small kitchen.

"Oh look, Gus!" he called. "Pineapple!"

Gus sighed and walked over to join his friend. "You have to be kidding me. I thought we were looking for clues."

"We are. And this is a clue that Jake was a very smart man. Unfortunately, he's no longer around. It would be a shame to let this go to waste."

"Shawn!"

"All right, all right." Shawn left the fruit alone and took another look around. It was a basic kitchen area, exactly like he would expect from a bachelor's kitchen. A block of knives sat on the counter, and a dirty bowl and spoon lay in the sink. There was a trash can in the corner with a flattened cardboard box tucked between the plastic container and the wall. "Nothing here." He made his way towards the rooms at the back of the apartment.

Gus followed behind him, and they both paused in the doorway of the bedroom. The walls were also beige, probably the standard color for the apartment building. A twin sized bed occupied one side, though depressions in the carpet indicated it had recently been moved from the center of the room.

A digital clock sat on the end of a nightstand, although nothing occupied the center of the small table. There were four more pictures on the walls in the bedroom, all displaying what appeared to be family events. A small bookcase was mounted on the wall, holding half a dozen mystery novels. Shawn's eyes lighted on a small metallic object half-hidden under the bed.

"Hey, Gus, look," he pointed. "Who leaves their cigarette lighter on the floor like that?"

Gus frowned. "I don't smell anything," he said. "If Jake smoked, the place should smell like it."

"Maybe Joe did," Shawn suggested, bending down to study the lighter. It was a basic, blue plastic lighter, similar to the kind found in the checkout line at the grocery store. There were no defining features to indicate the owner.

Shaking his head, Gus explained, "There would at least be some odor if Joe had smoked while he stayed here."

"Hm," Shawn mused. He straightened and took another look around the room. "Let's go talk to the neighbor who called the police. See what he noticed."

They hurried out of the apartment, and Shawn made sure to lock the door before closing it. Then he led Gus to the apartment across the hall.

"This is the neighbor?" Gus asked as Shawn knocked on the door.

Shawn nodded. "That's what the report said."

"We didn't get access to the reports," Gus objected.

"It may have been lying open on Jules' desk when we were there." Shawn shrugged. "And I may have happened to see the information on the guy who called it in."

"You read confidential police files without permission?"

"No one seems to be home," Shawn observed, ignoring Gus' question and rapping on the door again.

"He didn't know we were coming by," Gus stated. "I guess he didn't think he needed to be here for our visit."

"All right then," Shawn said. "We'll come back later. Let's go pay Joe a visit."

"You do realize that Lassiter isn't going to be happy to see us at the station again?" Gus clarified, descending the stairs beside Shawn.

"Has that ever stopped us before?" Shawn asked.

"You mean you, Shawn," Gus corrected.

"Okay," Shawn paused. "Has upsetting Lassieface ever stopped you from investigating before?"

Gus sighed. "Shawn, you know what I meant."

Shawn just grinned in response. "Race you!"

* * *

"My wife hired you?"

Shawn nodded, making eye contact with the man on the other side of the glass. "She did," he said through the phone. "And I'm going to prove you're innocent." He had left Gus in the main part of the station to keep an eye on Lassiter. The head detective would most likely kick them both out if he found Shawn digging into the case.

"Really?" Joe sounded a little skeptical. "The police said the only evidence pointed to me. I didn't do it, but everythin' seems to say I did."

"Dude, I told you, I'm a psychic," Shawn reminded him.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Right. Velma's mentioned you before."

"She has?" Shawn perked up. "Good things, right?"

"In her opinion. So what's your plan, exactly?" Joe asked. "I mean, you'll obviously do some investigating of your own, because psychics are usually just talented frauds." His expression was more amused than interested.

"Hey, I'll have you know I am indeed a psychic," Shawn replied indignantly. "But I need to ask you a few questions to assist in deciphering the information the spirits are handing me."

Joe shrugged. "Whatever."

"I'm hurt," Shawn pouted. Then he straightened up and got to business. "Can you tell me what happened yesterday morning? In your own words?"

"All right," Joe sighed. "So, uh, I had been at Jake's house for a few days, and I had told him the night before that I'd go grocery shopping for him. He had made a list and all, but I forgot it when I left. He'd taken a couple days off o' work since I was there, and ..." he hesitated before continuing, "so he was sleepin' in. I didn't want to wake him up, so I didn't bother calling, just turned around once I realized. Only when I walked in the house, I found him ... on the floor ..." He bit his lip and shut his eyes for a moment.

Shawn twisted his mouth to the side in thought. "Joe."

The man looked back up. "Yeah?"

"That's not why you didn't call, is it?"

Joe's eyes showed surprise then resignation. "No ... it's not."

"Mhmm." Shawn nodded. "Tell me what really happened."

"Well, it happened like I said. The only thing was that Jake and I had had a fight the night before. That's why I didn't call; I was afraid he was still upset with me. We hardly even talked that morning." His eyes filled with regret. "The last thing I said to him was ... It wasn't right," he continued after a pause. "And now he's gone, and I can't even apologize."

"You do realize that makes you more of a suspect now?"

Joe frowned at him and Shawn swallowed. If Gus were there, he would be kicking Shawn to stop asking questions and be more sympathetic, but Gus wasn't and Shawn needed more information. "Okay. Do you know anyone who might have wanted your brother dead?"

Joe thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not particularly. Although ... there was this one guy, someone Jake used to work with, who was probably mad at him. He, uh, he lost his job, partly 'cause of Jake."

His right hand was still occupied with the telephone, but Shawn put his left up to his temple. "I'm sensing this might be the right angle. Can you tell me more?" he asked in a slightly distant-sounding voice.

"Well, it'd been a while since I visited Jake, but we'd talk a lot on the phone and online. Seems Jake found out that a coworker ... a, uh, Paul Smith, for filing overtime when he wasn't really working. Jake saw the guy do it several times, but even then didn't want to report him, since the other guy'd probably lose his job. He finally did, though ... Do you think that's what got him killed? Smith wanted to get revenge?"

Shawn thought for a moment. "There's only one way to find out." He jumped from his chair, still holding the phone to his ear. "I'll let you know what I find."

Joe moved the phone from his ear as Shawn slammed his end down in excitement and hurried out of the room. "... Thanks."

* * *

"Guster!"

Gus looked up from his conversation with Buzz and swallowed involuntarily. He'd been hoping the head detective wouldn't show up until Shawn had returned.

"It was great talking to you, Gus," the officer smiled, hurrying off as Lassiter came up.

"What are you doing here? I don't remember calling you in." Lassiter paused and looked around. "And where's Spencer?"

"Oh, Shawn? He's ..."

"Right here," Shawn announced, skidding to a stop beside Gus. "Lassiota! How's it going?" He grabbed Gus' arm. "Buddy, I just remembered. We have to be at that thing in ten minutes. Let's go."

"What thing?" Gus asked, confused.

"Oh, you know. That thing. At the office." Shawn winked at Lassiter. "Sorry to run off on you, Lassie, but we've got to go. Catch you later?" He dragged Gus towards the door.

Lassiter shook his head as he watched them go, then turned for his desk. Those two were up to something, but as long as it wasn't interrupting him, he was willing to ignore it. At least he would be able to get some work done.

Meanwhile, Gus had finally managed to get Shawn to let go of his arm and slow down. "Seriously, Shawn, where are we going?" he demanded as they reached the car. "What did you find out from Joe?"

"Well, it seems there was another employee at Jake's office who was working overtime often. Only he wasn't actually working," Shawn told him. "Jake reported him and he got fired."

"Hmm." Gus raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like motive to me."

"Exactly!" Shawn replied. "So I say we find out where he lives and pay him a visit."

"You want to question a possible murderer by ourselves?"

Shawn grinned. "Please, Gus, this isn't Clue. It's not like we're going accuse him. We'll just ask him a few things and be on our way."

"Shawn, you know these situations usually don't work out the way you planned," Gus objected.

Shawn wasn't listening. "Jake and Paul both worked at Tanner Technologies. And look," he waved his phone at Gus, "they've got their address posted on their website."

"Tanner Technologies? They're one of Santa Barbara's fastest-growing web development firms," Gus informed his friend. "They do everything from site design to creating software for every aspect of internet services."

Shawn blinked. "Okay then. Let's go see what they can tell us about Paul Smith. Too bad he doesn't have a last name like yours, Gus. Then we could just look him up online."

"All right," Gus sighed. "But if we get killed, I'm blaming you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, just a note, I don't own Super8 (which I mentioned in ch1 and forgot to add), and here I don't own The Wizard of Oz or Jello. ;)

The small office building that housed Tanner Technologies was located not far from the Psych office, and Gus was soon braking the Echo to a stop in the parking lot.

"Do you have a plan for getting Smith's information?" he wanted to know. "Most companies don't just give out home addresses to anyone who asks."

"Don't worry; I'll think of something." Shawn grinned.

"Right. Because that's turned out so well in the past."

Shawn just ignored him and pulled open the front door. He strode up to the receptionist's desk and flashed her a winning smile. "Good afternoon, Brenda," he read the name off of the nameplate. "My name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my associate -"

"Burton Guster," the dark-haired receptionist interrupted, smiling at Gus. "How nice to see you again."

"It's great to see you, too." Gus returned the smile. "How have -"

"Wait." Shawn was confusedly looking between the two of them. "You totally just interrupted my introduction. You two know each other how?"

"Brenda and I went to the same aerobics class for a while," Gus told him.

Shaking his head, Shawn put on a pained expression. "That is not something I needed to know."

"So how have things been going for you, Gus?" she asked, turning to Gus. "I see the detective business is still going strong."

"Psychic detective business," Shawn cut in. "And I hate to interrupt this reunion of ... whatever it is, but we need to ask you a few questions."

Brenda nodded. "It's about Jake, isn't it?" Her blue eyes grew slightly misty. "He was such a great guy; I can't believe someone would kill him."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Shawn said, nodding sympathetically. "I promise I will find out who did this. Was he well-liked?" he asked, putting a hand to his temple. "I'm sensing there were hard feelings between some of the employees.

"Everyone loved Jake ... except for Paul ..." she trailed off. Wiping her eyes, she continued. "Paul Smith blamed Jake for him getting fired."

"Was Jake responsible for it?" Gus asked. "His brother told us that he reported Paul for filing faulty hours."

"Well, yes, Jake did report him, but it would've happened anyway," Brenda told them. "Mr. Tanner was already aware of it. Jake just happened to catch him doing it the day before they fired Paul."

"But Paul thought it was Jake's fault." Shawn shook his head. "Do you think we could take a look around Jake's work area? It would be very helpful in my attempts to divine what happened."

"Of course. We haven't had a chance to clean it out yet. I believe his sister-in-law was going to come collect his things this afternoon. If you go right down that hallway," Brenda pointed, "and take a right at the water cooler, you'll see his name on a cubicle to your left."

"Thank you," Gus acknowledged, giving her another smile before following Shawn towards Jake's cubicle.

Shawn ignored the curious glances from various employees as they passed and was soon digging through the drawers in Jake's desk. Within a few moments, he had located an address book. "Aha! Here's what we need."

Gus crossed his arms. "Just hurry up, Shawn. We aren't even supposed to be here," he whispered.

"I don't recall being told that," Shawn shrugged in reply, paging through the book. He flipped open the 'S's and grinned in satisfaction.

"I don't recall you telling Brenda that you would be snooping around and stealing contact information either."

"There we go. Paul Smith," Shawn announced. Grabbing a Post-It from the stack by the computer monitor, he jotted down the address and phone number. He shoved the paper into Gus' hands and returned the address book to its place. "Let's go pay him a visit."

"Shawn, were you listening to anything I just said?" Gus demanded.

"What's that?" Shawn asked, blinking at him innocently.

Gus shook his head in frustration. "Shawn ..."

But Shawn was already heading towards the front door. "Ooh, hey, Gus, let's stop for smoothies on the way."

* * *

Within half an hour, Shawn and Gus had reached the Paul Smith's home. It was in a quiet residential neighborhood, and there were several toys scattered across the front yard.

A short, slightly pudgy man with sandy hair answered Gus' knock. He was wearing shorts and an obviously old tshirt and held a dark glass bottle in his left hand. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, hi," Shawn greeted him. "My name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Jello Wigglebotham. We're here to speak with Paul Smith."

"That's me," the man answered, giving Gus a curious look.

"Good," Shawn grinned. "We wanted to ask you a few questions about one of your former coworkers. Do you know Jake Williams?"

"Jake Williams," Paul snorted. "Yeah I knew him. What's it to you?"

"Paul - can I call you Paul?" Shawn didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "How would you describe your relationship with Jake?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You want the truth?"

"That would be nice." Shawn shrugged.

"Okay, well here it is. I hate him." Paul spit out the words and took a swallow from the bottle in his hand.

"How much?"

"You got a reason for all these questions?" Paul demanded. "I got a game to get back to."

"Did you hate him enough to ... I don't know, kill him?" Shawn questioned.

"Wha - What?" Eyes wide now, Paul looked between Shawn and Gus.

"Jake Williams was found dead yesterday," Gus told him.

"Oh my ... I would, I would never hurt anyone. I mean, sure, I hated Jake for getting me fired, but I would never ... Oh man ..." Paul had gone pale and was now leaning slightly against the door frame.

"Really?" Shawn asked. "Seems like you'd have enough time to do it, being out of work, no one would miss you from a job."

"I was busy all yesterday morning," the man replied. "I was helping out at my kid's school, getting sets and stuff built for that Wizard of Oz production they're doing in a few weeks. My boy Andy's the scarecrow," he added, his voice taking on a hint of pride.

"Thanks," Shawn told him. "We'll let you know if we have any other questions."

Paul raised a hand in a half-hearted wave. "Tell Joe's family I'm real sorry about this." He turned back inside and shut the door behind him.

"What do you think of him?" Gus asked, turning to head down the porch steps.

Shawn shrugged. "He seems to be telling the truth. Besides, he'd have to be pretty dumb to kill Jake when he did. I mean, he'd just gotten fired and it seems enough people knew there were hard feelings. He had to know he'd be one of the top suspects."

"It should be pretty easy to check his alibi," Gus observed. "We didn't get the school name, but there can't be that many schools in Santa Barbara putting on an upcoming production of the Wizard of Oz."

"Right," Shawn agreed. "Let's get back to the office and do some digging."

* * *

"It looks like Paul was right," Shawn concluded, sitting back in his chair.

Gus looked over from his own desk. "Paul was there yesterday?"

An internet search of upcoming school plays of The Wizard of Oz revealed only two schools in the area that would be presenting it that month. The secretary at the first school seemed slightly skeptical of Shawn's "long-lost cousin" story but told him there were no Andy Smiths in the production.

The second result was much more helpful; the secretary had informed him that, yes, Andrew Smith was playing their scarecrow, and that Mr. Paul Smith was assisting them with the scenery.

"He was here all day yesterday painting the yellow brick road," she told him cheerfully. "I can't say how grateful we are to have him helping us. Not many of the parents are willing to come in at 7:30 and stay till 3 - all on volunteer time, too."

"Yes," Shawn answered Gus' question. "Paul Smith was busily painting school sets while Jake Williams was being murdered."

Gus frowned in thought. "Which puts us right back at the beginning. Who would have motive and opportunity to break into Jake's apartment and shoot him?"

"I still want to talk to the neighbor who called the cops," Shawn stated. "He might be able to point us in the right direction."

Glancing at the clock on his computer desktop, Gus nodded. "He's probably home by now."


	4. Chapter 4

For the second time that day, the two approached the door of the apartment across from Jake's. This time, however, Shawn's knock was answered.

A dark-haired man who was at least a head taller than either Shawn or Gus opened the door and scowled at them. He was wearing worn jeans and a plain blue polo. "Yeah?"

"My, aren't we bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today?" Shawn commented. "You really should work on your attitude. I am Shawn Spencer," he continued, not giving the man a chance to cut in, "and this is my partner Mild Will Hiccup. Are you Clancy Oliver?"

"Yeah." The man looked him up and down. What do you want?"

"I am a psychic detective with the Santa Barbara Police Department and wanted to ask you a few questions about the man who was killed across the hall from you."

Clancy's scowl softened slightly. "Yeah, Jake ... What about him?"

"We're checking into his murder and -"

"Wait. I thought they arrested the brother," Clancy interrupted. "What happened with that?"

"We're just following up on your statement," Gus explained. "We want to be sure we have all the bases covered."

"Well, in that case, what do you need?"

"Can you repeat your statement for us? What happened yesterday morning?"

He shrugged. "I was running late for work, and I heard some banging and yelling from across the hall. I'd already had to put up with a lot more noise than I should've from there - I even called the building manager once - so I figured it qualified as disturbance of the peace and called the police."

"And then they found the body when they got here," Shawn finished.

"Yep. Found Jake lying on the carpet with a bullet through him." Clancy raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hear a shot, but I wasn't really paying attention. I think I was in the shower at that point." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, turning it over and over in his hand in what appeared to be a nervous habit.

Shawn nodded at it. "Nice lighter you have there."

Looking down at it, Clancy rolled his eyes. "It's just a dollar store piece of junk; I don't know that your description's all that accurate."

"Do you know where you lost your old one?" Shawn asked, perking up.

"If I knew where I lost it, it wouldn't be lost," he grunted. "Now if that's it, you two can leave; I'm done wasting time."

"Sure." Shawn shrugged. "But we'll be back if we have any other questions."

"Whatever," Clancy grunted as he slammed the door.

Shawn was nearly giddy with excitement as he turned to Gus. "Gus! Did you see that? He had a new lighter and wouldn't say where his other one was."

"He could have just misplaced it, Shawn."

"But what about the lighter we found in Jake's apartment?" Shawn asked, following Gus back to the car. "What if that's where Clancy lost his lighter, and he either doesn't remember or doesn't want to risk getting it back?"

"He did have the opportunity to commit the crime," Gus acknowledged. "He waits until Joe leaves, then he goes over and shoots Jake. Then he sees Joe coming back and calls the police to throw the suspicion off of himself."

"Exactly!" Shawn grinned. "Call Jules and tell her we found the guy."

"But what was his motive?" Gus pointed out. "Why would Clancy want to kill Jake?"

"Noise? Stealing his newspaper? Neighborly-type stuff?"

"We can't just accuse someone without motive, Shawn," Gus told him. "You at least need to come up with a plausible reason other than a new lighter."

"Hmm. What if -"

He was interrupted by his ringtone for the station's number. Grinning, Shawn pulled the phone from his pocket and answered it. "Jules! I was just about to call you." He paused as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. "No, just doing the normal awesome stuff I usually do each day."

Gus rolled his eyes.

"Sure, hang on a minute," Shawn continued. He held the phone against his shoulder to block the speaker and turned back to Gus. "Jules wants us at a crime scene. Should I tell her we're already busy with this case?" he whispered loudly.

"Shawn!" Gus whispered back indignantly. "You do not turn down a paying job for a case the police said was closed."

"But we might get paid. Do we really need to stop - Hey!"

Gus had snatched the phone from Shawn's grasp. "We'll be right there. Where's the scene?" He returned Shawn's glare as he took down the location from Juliet.

"Dude," Shawn complained after Gus had hung up, "what was that?"

"You know very well what that was, Shawn," Gus returned, handing him the device. "I know we're investigating this case, but it doesn't mean we should turn down an official police department case. One that pays us actual money."

Failing to come up with a witty retort, Shawn simply shrugged and nodded. "All right, we'll look into it. But then we accuse this guy and get him to confess."

"You mean get Lassiter to get this guy to confess," Gus corrected.

"What? You don't think I could crack someone in an interrogation room?" Shawn sounded offended. "I totally could scare him into submission."

"'Yeah, sure," Gus rolled his eyes. "Come on; let's go."

* * *

Juliet was waiting at the door of the house when they pulled up. It was a medium-sized home in a nice neighborhood, the size in which a small family could easily live. The yard was well cared for, but there were no toys or balls spread around the lawn.

"Hey, guys," Juliet greeted. "Thanks for coming."

Shawn nodded. "Of course. We would never turn down a chance to assist the police force and its lovely junior detective." He winked at her.

She blushed slightly and quickly turned to lead the way inside. "The victim is Angela Monte. Forty-six, married to Caleb Monte ... her husband found her about an hour ago."

As they walked through the house to the bedroom, Shawn's eyes took in the family photos hanging on the walls. There was an obvious progression in the pictures. The first few showed a young couple, then the framed images continued to include a young girl, then a young boy, and the family grew older as the pictures went on. The newest pictures were of two other families, and Shawn picked out the children from the earlier photos as a parent in each new one.

Juliet noticed him looking at the pictures and continued, "Angela and Caleb Monte live here alone now that their kids are grown. Caleb says he left this morning and arrived home to find her in the bedroom. Preliminary time of death is between 11 and 1 today."

They walked into the master suite, and Gus immediately started swallowing repeatedly - hard.

Angela Monte's body lay beside the large oak dresser; the pool of blood under her blond head and the bloody corner of the dark wooden dresser easily told the reason for her death.

Shawn glanced quickly around the room. The bedroom window was open, but the pane itself was broken. Glass lay scattered across the rug underneath it. There were several empty shelves along the light red walls, but based on the rest of the decor, they had recently been occupied. Additionally, there was a desk in the corner of the room that held a docking station, but the laptop was nowhere to be found. Several figurines from the dresser were shattered on the ground near the body.

"Don't touch anything, Spencer," Lassiter snapped from where he was talking to one of the crime scene techs.

"Lassieface, you know I wouldn't dream of disturbing your lovely crime scene," Shawn replied. "I can fully operate without touching anything."

Lassiter rolled his eyes. "Right, because you're so well-known for keeping your hands to yourself."

"Don't worry, my dear head detective," Shawn said in a sing-song voice. "I'll find out what happened to Angela Monte before the day is up."

"All I need is a suspect," Lassiter told him. "Obviously it was a burglary gone bad. There was a struggle, the intruder panicked after killing Angela, and grabbed the few things in sight before fleeing."

"Whatever you say," Shawn shrugged. He looked around the room again, this time wandering around it to make sure he didn't miss anything. This time, his eyes lit on a few sheets of paper lying on the desk. The top page was a printout of an eBay private message from one member to another. Shawn read it and then turned back to the others.

"Oh! I'm sensing something," he declared. "... I'm sensing the husband may be able to tell me more than I can gather here. I need to see him immediately."

Lassiter sighed. "Are you done here?"

"Yes, Lassie," Shawn nodded seriously. "Now, the husband?" he asked, aiming the question at Juliet.

"He's in the living room," she offered, motioning down the hallway.

"Great! Thanks, Jules," Shawn acknowledged. "Come on, Gus."

Gus was only too happy to leave the bedroom behind him, and he followed Shawn to the living room where a stocky, older man with graying hair was sitting on the couch. The uniformed officer who was taking Caleb's statement looked up as Shawn and Gus entered, smiling in recognition.

"Hi, Buzz," Shawn greeted. "Can I have a minute?"

"Sure," Buzz McNab nodded, standing. "We just finished."

"Thanks, buddy." Shawn patted him on the back before taking newly-vacated seat. Crossing his arms, he leaned back into the pillows. "Ooh, Gus, we need to get one of these for the office."

"Can I help you?" Caleb Monte asked, confused. His green eyes were rimmed in red and still wet with grief. "You're with the police?"

"Shawn Spencer, head psychic for the Santa Barbara Police Department," Shawn announced importantly. "And you're the one who found your wife?"

"Yes," Caleb said sadly, nodding. "I had gone fishing this morning and everything was fine. Angela told me goodbye, I went out for several hours, then I headed back in so we could go out tonight. I ... I didn't think I'd come home to this."

"And you didn't see any sign of who had done this? No one was leaving when you arrived?"

"Why are you asking me all this?" the man inquired. "I just gave Officer McNab my statement."

"I need to get a reading from you," Shawn explained. "Asking you questions assists the spirits in telling me what I need to know."

"Honestly, Mr. Spencer, I ... I really don't feel like answering many more questions. I'm sorry." Caleb wiped a hand over his eyes.

Gus had taken a seat beside Shawn, and he frowned slightly, giving Shawn a look out of the corner of his eye. Catching it, Shawn leaned over a few inches.

"What?" he whispered.

"I smell tobacco smoke," Gus whispered back. "But only on Caleb. There was none in the house itself. So either he smokes but not in his house, or he was recently around someone who did."

Turning to Caleb, Shawn continued in a regular voice. "Caleb, did you or your wife sell anything online recently? Books, spoons, hamsters, pineapples ... ?"

"Angela was really into selling stuff eBay," Caleb answered. "She had recently started selling some of our stuff we didn't use anymore, mostly from the attic."

Shawn nodded. "And one more question. Do you smoke?"

Blinking, Caleb nodded slowly. "Yes ... I do. I mean, I did. I mean ... I'm trying to quit, but I did smoke regularly for a while ... Angela hated the habit and never let me smoke in the house." He smiled sadly. "I was trying to quit for her ..." he paused and bit his lower lip. "I'm sorry."

"You're fine," Gus assured him, giving Shawn another look.

"We're done anyway. Thank you for your time," Shawn told him distractedly. He hopped up from the sofa and hurried towards the door. "Come on, Gus; we've got to go."

Gus followed him, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Shawn," he asked as soon as they Caleb out of Caleb's earshot. "Did you find something?"

"I think so. There was a paper on the desk, an eBay message from someone with the username jwill80."

"And?"

"Dude! The file said that Jake's birth year was 1980, remember?" Shawn grinned in satisfaction.

Gus pulled the door open and stepped onto the front porch. "No, Shawn, I wouldn't remember. I didn't read the police file without permission."

"Gus, don't be a year old piece of Laffy Taffy. I told you, the file was lying open on Jules' desk and I just happened to catch a glimpse of it. Anyway, this message was asking about meeting somewhere to pick up an item since they both live in Santa Barbara."

Gus' brow wrinkled in confusion as he looked at Shawn across the top of the Echo. "I don't see the connection. Yes, Jake's birth year was 1980, but that doesn't mean he sent the message."

"Think about it, Gus," Shawn said. "The sender's name was jwill80. Jake Williams was born in 1980. Angela Monte has been selling stuff on eBay. There was a flattened cardboard shipping box near the trash can at Jake's apartment, and there was an empty space on Jake's nightstand. It completely fits!" He smiled proudly at his deduction.

"But you don't know that."

"But I don't not know it either," Shawn shot back.

"Shawn, that makes no sense." Gus got into the driver's seat.

"Fine. Let's go talk to Joe and see what he can tell us."

"Again?" Gus looked at him doubtfully. "You're going to sneak down to talk to him twice in one day? And what about this crime scene? Lassiter won't be happy if you don't give him something."

"I can sense the two cases are connected," Shawn stated. "That's why we're going back to talk to Joe." At the look on Gus' face, he sighed. "All right, all right." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Juliet's number.

"Jules! Gus had to run out because of something ... Oh, uh, there was an emergency with Mrs. Pickles, his cat ... Yes, he does. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm getting some strong vibes that this wasn't a burglary gone bad ... No, tell Lassie I'm not just saying it to contradict him. I'll let you know when I have more."

He ended the call and grinned at Gus. "All right, let's go. You know, you really need another pet. How about a hamster? I hear you can get them on eBay ... "


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also? I don't own Wendy's or any of the other publicly recognizable items/establishments I've mentioned.

For the second time that day, Shawn sat in the station, talking with Joe over the phone from one side of the bulletproof glass. Joe didn't look much more pleased than he had that morning.

"How's it going?" Shawn greeted the other man.

He raised an eyebrow. "You really have to ask?"

"Okay, just so you know, I'm getting some really bad vibes from your side. You think you could cheer up, just a little?" Shawn asked.

The other man ignored him. "Did you find anything?"

Shawn grinned. "You know, they say prison is a good place to learn more about yourself. You should try looking within and finding out who you really are. I'm sure that inside that cold hard exterior you have a heart of golden pineapple."

Joe appeared to be trying to figure out if Shawn was either crazy or insane.

"Okay," Shawn cleared his throat, "I'll just have to try to channel the spirits anyway. So tell me, Joe, do you remember what was in Jake's bedroom?"

"In where now?" Joe asked confusedly.

"In the bedroom," Shawn intoned. "I can sense that there is something missing, something not where it should be ..."

"Well, we moved the bed," Joe offered. "So that the cot could fit in the room, although we moved it to the front room after ... after we fought."

"Not just the bed!" Shawn squinted, as if he were looking into the distance. "Something on the nightstand ..."

"The lamp?"

Shawn sat up slightly. "A lamp! Why is there no lamp on the nightstand?"

"I ... I don't know," Joe replied. "It was there the night we fought, and then I never went into Jake's bedroom again."

"Can you describe this lamp to me?"

Joe gave him another skeptical look. "Can't you just envision it in your head, being psychic and all?"

"I could, but I want to make sure we're on the same page." Shawn arched an eyebrow.

"Fine. It was, uh, it was dark wood, and it had a beige lampshade. The wood part had some carvings of ... leaves and stuff, I think, and the lampshade had some red pattern on it. I didn't pay a ton of attention to it." He shrugged.

Shawn's eyes narrowed in thought. The description Joe had just given sounded quite similar to the decor at the Monte house. "Joe, do you know if Jake bought anything on eBay recently?"

"eBay?" Joe repeated. He paused to think. "I'm not sure, but earlier this week, he went and picked up lunch. He came home with the lamp, too. Said he'd bought it online and met the person to pick it up."

"Ooh," Shawn held his left hand to his temple, retaining his grip on the phone with his right. "And where was this place he went to get your lunch?"

"Uh, Wendy's. Is that important?"

"Very important!" Shawn grinned in triumph. "Don't worry, Joe; I'm getting a very, very strong sense that this will all be solved soon."

"Good. It'd better."

Shawn gave him one last admonishing look. "I'm telling you, dude, you can find yourself if you just try hard enough." He then hung up his end of the phone and hurried to find Gus.

His friend was waiting for him by the front door. "There you are!" Gus looked relieved. "If you leave me to run interference with Lassiter one more time, I'm going to -"

"Don't worry, buddy," Shawn cut him off. "Now, the question is, are you hungry?"

* * *

"Seriously, Shawn, this is getting ridiculous," Gus grumbled, watching Shawn polish off another order of chicken nuggets. "How long until you burst?"

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you want that to happen," Shawn replied. "And we should be getting close to finding the right one soon; there aren't that many more places we can check."

"I would have thought Jake went to a restaurant nearer to his apartment," Gus observed, pulling into another Wendy's parking lot.

"Well, if he was meeting Angela, they would have worked out a place for both of them," Shawn reasoned. "I've got a feeling that this is the place."

"You said that the last time, Shawn. And the time before that." Gus shook his head.

"Right, but there aren't that many more Wendy's left in an area that would make sense for them to have used to meet," Shawn pointed out.

Gus shook his head. "You'd better be right," he told Shawn as they exited the vehicle. "Otherwise, I will do more than put a handful of allergy pills in your next Frosty."

"Come on, Gus. When else are you going to have so many chances to pick up hot drive-through chicks?"

"Hmm. You know that's right."

The interior of the restaurant was not busy, the main dinner rush having not yet gotten started. There were a few people occupying booths around the edges of the eating area, but it was mostly empty. Shawn strode up to the register.

The dark-haired girl behind the counter smiled. "Hi, can I help you gentlemen?"

"Yes," Shawn replied, interrupting Gus. "We might be interested in some dinner. However, we need something from you first."

The girl looked between them and raised an eyebrow. "I already have a boyfriend."

"What?" Shawn feigned shocked innocence. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask you about a friend." He reached into his pocket and retrieving his phone. Pulling up an image of Jake that he had gotten from Velma, he showed it to her. "Has this man ever been in here?"

"Say, a few days ago," Gus put in, smiling.

She studied the photo. "You know, I usually don't remember people who come in here; we get so many customers every day. But this guy ..." She tapped her chin with her forefinger. "I believe I remember him.

"Did he meet anyone here?" Shawn inquired.

The girl paused in thought. "I think he did ... A woman."

"Blond?" Shawn asked. "And did you see any sign of a lamp?"

"It's funny you would say that," she said thoughtfully. "I remember thinking that it was a weird thing to bring here. I mean, it wasn't a huge floor lamp, but still."

Shawn glanced around the room before turning back to the girl. "And did she do anything with this lamp?"

"She did ... if I remember it right, she gave the lamp to this fellow," she gestured at the phone in Shawn's hand, "and they left. He did order some food to go before he left."

"Hmm," Shawn nodded. "Well, thank you for the help. Gus! Do you want a Frosty?"


	6. Chapter 6

"See, Gus?" Shawn demanded, dipping his spoon into his Frosty. "Jake and Angela met each other here and he got the lamp from her. There has to be a connection between their deaths." He gasped dramatically. "Maybe the lamp was cursed!"

"Cursed, Shawn?" Gus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Gus. Cursed. How else do you explain that the only thing that connects Jake and Angela is the lamp? It's the only thing that makes sense!"

Gus gave Shawn a look as he took a bite. "There are plenty of other explanations, Shawn. What if there was something special about the lamp? Maybe the killer first tried to get it from Angela?"

"And then found out Jake had it and went get it from him?" Shawn continued. "Gus, you're a genius. Now we just have to figure out who would have wanted the lamp in the first place."

"Excuse me."

They looked up to see the girl from the register standing by their table. She was wearing a light jacket and carrying her purse, and she was looking expectantly at Shawn.

"Yes?" he acknowledged, turning in his chair and flashing her a winning smile.

"Um, well, I'm on my way out, but I wanted to tell you something else. I had forgotten at first, and then I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but there was a suspicious-looking guy here the day those people came with the lamp." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "He seemed like he was tailing them or something. I thought it might help you."

"Do you happen to remember what this guy looked like?" Shawn asked her.

"He was, um, kind of stocky. Not fat, but he wasn't skinny ... it was the way he was built, you know? And then he had dark hair that was going gray, but I couldn't see his eyes very well because he never came up to the registers." She cast a glance out the front window. "Oh, there's my ride. Does that help you at all?"

"It does, thank you," Gus smiled in response, cutting Shawn off.

"No problem." She gave them a wave before hurrying out to a waiting car.

Shawn was lost in thought. "Gus, that man she described, did he sound like anyone familiar to you?"

"She just said he was graying and stocky. That describes a good portion of the population of Santa Barbara."

"Yes, but how many of the population of Santa Barbara are involved in our case? Did the person she described sound at all to you like Caleb Monte?"

Gus shrugged and nodded slowly. "You know, it did a little."

"All right." Shawn jumped up from his chair and hurried to the trash can with his cup and spoon. "Let's get a look at the security camera footage from the other day."

"Shawn, they aren't just going to let you in the back to see the recordings," Gus objected.

* * *

Gus glared at his friend. "Shawn, the next time you want to sneak a viewing of security footage, remind me to take a vacation that day."

"But where would the fun be in that?" Shawn pouted as he watched the high-speed recordings. "You have to admit, it's at least as fun as getting into the midnight showing of Toy Story 3."

"You know that's right." Gus bumped the offered fist.

"Oh look!" Shawn pointed to the screen. "This should be our man."

Gus squinted slightly at the image. "You're right. That's definitely Caleb Monte."

"So why was he here that day?" Shawn mused, clicking to rewind the tape slightly.

First Jake, then Angela, had arrived at the restaurant and taken seats at a booth in the corner. While they were exchanging money and the lamp, another figure entered. He was wearing a jacket and a low ball cap, and he kept himself turned so that Angela couldn't see him. However, he did turn his face to the camera several times, and there was no doubt as to who he was.

"It's him, Gus!" Shawn exclaimed excitedly. "If he's being all stealthy like that, then he had something going on that he shouldn't have."

Shawn and Gus hurried from the manager's office. Shawn flashed a smile at the confused man, who appeared to be trying to figure out who these two men were who were running from his office.

"We're with the police," Shawn called over his shoulder. "And, by the way, save your security footage for the cops. They'll be here in a little while."

Not giving the manager time to respond, the two friends quickly jumped into Gus' car and pulled out of the lot. Shawn pulled out his phone and dialed Juliet's number.

"Hey, Jules, we have something on the Williams case. I mean, the Monte case. Actually, ... What? No, we were investigating the Monte case and not wasting department resources."

Gus shot him a look, which Shawn ignored.

"I'm getting a strong vision that Caleb Monte is involved in the murder of his wife. Meet us at his motel and ... Yes. Yes, I am aware that you didn't tell us where Caleb Monte was staying while his house is a crime scene. But the spirits are very giving today, and they told me where he was. So we'll meet you there."

"Shawn," Gus began when Shawn hung up.

"Yes, Gus?" Shawn raised his eyebrows in an expression of innocence.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "So where are we headed?"

Shawn gave him the address and sat back in his seat. "And no, I totally did not get that off of Buzz's notebook when we were at the Monte house."

* * *

They pulled into the motel's parking lot to find the detectives had already arrived. Lassiter was leaning against his Crown Vic with his arms crossed.

"Spencer, you had better have a very good explanation for this."

Shawn waved at him. "Good to see you, too, Lassieface. Your confidence always inspires me."

"So long as it makes you do something productive," the head detective muttered.

Juliet shot him a look before turning back to the two consultants. "So, Shawn, you said Caleb Monte had something to do with the case?"

"Yes!" Shawn grinned and nodded. He threw a hand to his head. "Oh! I'm sensing the key to two cases lies around here somewhere!" Throwing his hand out in front of him, he jerked himself towards one of the ground floor rooms.


	7. Chapter 7

Shawn rapped on the door of the room to which he had been "led". It was opened by a slightly-disheveled Caleb Monte.

He blinked at them in confusion, obviously having just woken up. "Can I help you?"

"Sorry to interrupt your nap, but we have some more questions," Shawn announced. "Can we come in?"

"Uh ..."

"Great!" Shawn ducked under Caleb's arm and waited for the man to let Gus and the detectives in as well. The room was a standard motel room, nothing special by any means. The walls were papered with a basic flowered print, and the bedspreads were plain beige. One of the twin beds was undone, and the dim lights told Shawn that Caleb had been attempting to sleep before they arrived. "So, where should we start?" he asked as soon as the others had joined them inside.

"Maybe with the part that tells me why you four are here?" Caleb replied, shutting the door behind the group. "Did you make any progress on my wife's case?"

"You could say that." Shawn put both hands to his temples. "I'm sensing ... I'm sensing that you didn't tell us the whole story back at your house."

Caleb crossed his arms. "Oh?"

"What are you saying, Spencer?" Lassiter demanded.

"I'm saying ..." Shawn trailed off. He squeezed his eyes shut and began rubbing his fingers together. "Paper ... No, not just any paper ... Green paper ... Something about money. And ..." He then began moving his fingers rapidly in front of him, as if he were typing on a computer keyboard. "... The internet ... Money on the internet? Ah!" Shawn popped open his eyes. "I'm sensing part of the answer lies in Angela Monte's eBay transactions."

Glancing over at Caleb, Shawn was satisfied by seeing the man's cheeks redden lightly. Lassiter and Juliet were standing by the door, watching Shawn with annoyance and amusement, respectively. Gus was standing farther to the side, waiting in case Shawn needed any assistance with his "vision".

"I'm also sensing ..." Shawn flung himself across the room, to where a lamp was sitting on the table between the two beds. "A lamp! There is also tinglings about a lamp ... Angela was selling a lamp on eBay!" he announced.

Caleb shifted uneasily, and Lassiter caught the movement. He narrowed his eyes at the other man as Shawn continued.

For his part, Shawn had his eyes closed again and his hands to his head. "You didn't want Angela to sell a lamp, but she did. And you tried to get it back ..." He yelped and grabbed at his chest, flopping backwards onto one of the beds. Opening one eye, he looked up at the others. "There really was no need for a gun, though."

"A gun?" Caleb's face had now grown pale, and his voice was slightly shaking. "But my wife wasn't killed by a bullet."

"No, but Jake Williams was." Shawn made no move to get up from the bed. "This is actually quite comfortable. I think you got a good deal on the room."

"Spencer, are you done?" Lassiter demanded.

"Patience, Lassie, patience." Shawn sat up and raised an eyebrow at Caleb. "So you tried to get the lamp back and accidentally shot Jake Williams. You didn't realize that he had taken the day off of work. And when your wife confronted you about it, things got out of hand. You shoved her backwards, causing her to hit her head and expire!" Shawn put heavy emphasis on the last word, clasping his hands around his throat and fell backwards onto the mattress a second time.

"No, it didn't happen like that!" Caleb exclaimed.

Lassiter scowled. "How did it happen, then?"

"You didn't mean to do it." Shawn observed from his horizontal position. "It was just an argument that got out of hand. You pushed, she pushed, you pushed harder ... It's all too horrible!" He clapped a hand over his eyes, moving his fingers to peek through at Caleb's face.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Caleb stopped himself with a hand to his mouth, realizing he had just given himself away.

Lassiter took several steps to close the gap between Caleb and him, crossing his arms and glaring at the other man. "Explain."

Reaching to the side for a chair, Caleb took a seat, burying his head in his hands. "It wasn't on purpose," he repeated. He took a deep breath and continued. "I ... owe money to a loan shark. I had started gambling several years ago ... but Angela hated the habit and made me promise to stop. I tried ... really I did ... and I had until recently. But then I started again for a while several months ago. I finally quit again, but not before I had built up some debts."

Shawn sat up and put his right hand to his temple. "So you had ...hidden some cash in the lamp ..."

"Yes." Caleb looked shocked that Shawn knew the fact. "In a compartment in the bottom of the lamp. I had done it before, and Angela never knew. I didn't expect that she would up and sell the lamp!"

"And you tried to talk her out of it once she did, but she wouldn't go back," Shawn continued the story.

"Not exactly." Caleb shook his head. "She was on her way out the door with it when I got home from the gym the other day. I had no time to ask her about it, but I couldn't let her get rid of it -"

"So you followed her," Shawn interrupted. "Because that is the next logical step in the story." This earned Shawn a stern look from both detectives and Gus.

"I did follow her." Caleb hung his head. "I needed to find out where the purchaser lived. I was just planning to steal the lamp to get my money back, but someone was home ... I didn't mean to shoot him. But it happened ..." He paused for a moment, then continued. "I didn't expect anyone to be there."

"It doesn't change the fact that it was murder," Lassiter countered. "What happened to your wife?"

Caleb took a long, heaving sigh before continuing. "We had a fight. She thought I was having an ... affair, since I would go off to ... gamble ... She lashed out in anger, and I just went to push her away. She ... she tripped and hit her head on the edge of the dresser."

"Why didn't you just call for help?" Gus broke in. "You could have called 9-1-1."

"Well ... I ... I knew she was dead, and I ... and I freaked out that if I called for help, someone would find out about my ... side activities and I would be arrested ..."

"So you staged a burglary then went out and enjoyed yourself," Shawn continued. "You went fishing and left the scene of your crime to be discovered on its own. And when it wasn't, you called it in yourself."

"Yes," the man replied. "I did. I ... I'm sorry." His voice broke.

"It's not us you need to be apologizing to. Caleb Monte, you are under arrest for the murders of Jake Williams and Angela Monte," Lassiter informed him, snapping handcuffs around his wrists.

* * *

Shawn leaned back in his chair at the Psych office, folding his hands behind his head. "This is the life, Gus. My only regret is that we didn't get the girl this time."

"Shawn, the girl was married." Gus looked up from his computer, eyebrow raised.

"Well, yeah ..."

Just then, the door opened, and Velma and Joe walked into the office. They were holding hands, and Velma was smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, hi there," Shawn greeted, removing his hands and sitting up. "It's great to see you out and about, Joe."

"Thanks," Joe replied. Velma poked him in the ribs and he swallowed before continuing. "I, uh, I wanted to come by and say thank you for what you did."

"Yes," Velma put in. "We can't say how much we appreciate your helpin' Joe out. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here."

"It was our pleasure," Gus spoke up, smiling at the couple. "We were happy to help."

"Well, thank you again." Velma said. She smiled at Joe and put a hand on his arm. "We need to be headin' back to Newport now."

Once they had walked out, Gus and Shawn shared a look, then Shawn spoke up. "So, Gus, tell me more about this aerobics class you and Brenda are in. Do they have any spaces open?"


End file.
